The Kazmer Report

Rick Kazmer
rickk@dailyamerican.com

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has caused a mess of officiating.
Steelers safety Ryan Clark was fined $40K Wednesday for a hit during the game against Baltimore Sunday night.
Ray Lewis was also fined for his hit on Hines Ward. Players are struggling with how to play the game because of Goodell’s skewed perception of the contact sport.
Referees are influencing game results because they don’t know how to officiate. Eventually league officials are going to have to come out with something more concrete — or repeal the overboard rules.
The final straw might be when a blown call based on Goodell’s rules costs a team the Super Bowl.

— Penn State officials have fired Joe Paterno and college President Graham Spanier. It’s a horrible situation all around. Paterno’s great legacy may be irreparably damaged. More here.

Rick Kazmer
rickk@dailyamerican.com

The Pittsburgh-Baltimore game Sunday night is a hard one to call.
It really depends on what team shows up. Both squads have played great football this year — and also some horrible football.
I really don’t think this is going to be a repeat of Week 1 when the Ravens pounded the Steelers 35-7.
I think this is going to come down to Joe Flacco. He has been the difference in these matchups —especially the big games — and this one qualifies because the winner will be positioned for the division title. Flacco usually crumbles under the pressure.
Flacco doesn’t seem to play well at night, during big games and in Pittsburgh. All of that bodes well for the Steelers. And unless last week was a fluke, Pittsburgh’s defense may have a new swagger about it. The team will be relying on young linebackers to spell or replace at least three injured veterans — LaMarr Woodley, James Farrior and James Harrison.
Guys including Chris Carter, Stevenson Sylvester and Cam Heyward will have to step up to corral Ray Rice.
Maybe the next generation of Pittsburgh’s defense will be introduced Sunday night?

Rick Kazmer
rickk@dailyamerican.com

I last remember having pneumonia — well I don’t ever remember having it.
But I was sickened by the condition when I was very young, according to my mother.
She said my grandmother said, “I looked like a washcloth lying on the couch.”
I finished a five-day antibiotic plan Monday designed to cure my latest bout with the cough-inducing disease. The sickness has caused me to miss two days of work — I have never taken a sick day before.
The pills are working because I feel better. But the doc says I could be coughing for some time to come.
On the bright side the Steelers beat the Patriots Sunday.
If it took me getting sick to get the Steelers over that hump, it was an even trade. But I don’t think my health had a lot to do with it.

Rick Kazmer
rickk@dailyamerican.com

Baltimore’s performance Monday night reminded me of a game I watched several years ago when the Ravens played on a Sunday or Monday night.
I don’t remember the opponent, or the score. I do remember that Ray Lewis and that Ravens defense played well, as usual. But the offense couldn’t finish the win. That was in 2008.
Analyst Steve Young said then that his heart bled for the Ravens defense because they never have an offense to match the superb play of Lewis, Ed Reed and the host of others.
Things haven’t changed much. Sure, the Ravens have some big names on offense, and perhaps the best running back in the league in Ray Rice. But they simply don’t have a signal caller who can pull it all together. Joe Flacco is not an elite quarterback. If the Ravens win the AFC North this year, it will be because of the team’s defense.

Rick Kazmer
rickk@dailyamerican.com

I feel I had better start this out with a disclaimer: The following comments are not based on in-depth economic analysis.
When I talk about trade deals the nation’s leaders are making with other countries, I don’t know a lot about them. This is about one general principle: Politicians should be working more on business ventures and less on war plans.
So I like headlines that include trade deals with foreign nations. America needs its products to be coveted commodities around the world. The more United States businesses export at a profit the more jobs will be created.
The intricacies of trade deals with South Korea and other countries should be debated about by smarter people than I. But I would hope lawmakers are making those deals with the nation’s best interest in mind, so that America is profiting in some way.
The time for war is over. As former President Calvin Coolidge said: The business of America is business.
More on buying American.

Rick Kazmer
rickk@dailyamerican.com

It seems every time I write something about the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team’s performance the following week makes me look foolish.
Is their age and experience a good or bad thing? I honestly don’t know anymore. The beating they gave Tennessee on Sunday might still be fallout from the Terrible Towel curse allegedly placed on the Titans after they walked on the Steelers icon a few years back.
Superstitions aside, Pittsburgh looked pretty good. We’ll see if they can keep it pulled together.

+ Some comments on Pitt and Tino Sunseri.
Kazmer, Siwy.

Rick Kazmer
rickk@dailyamerican.com

What exactly does it mean to be married?
Mexico City lawmakers apparently think it means nothing more than a temporary legal agreement between two people.
They are considering legalizing wedding deals that last a minimum of two years. When they expire couples can agree to either renew or cancel their subscription, uhh, I mean marriage.
They say it will strengthen the harmony of relationships by leaving an easy out. But there are more holes in this argument than in the Steelers’ offensive line.
Marriage is sacred. A magazine subscription is not. Anything that moves the meaningful bond of two people closer to the latter should be strongly opposed.
Read more of my thoughts here. Bruce Siwy’s argument here.

— All that I have to say about the Pittsburgh Steelers is:
+ They had better find some able bodies for the offensive and defensive lines.
+ If Ben Roethlisberger can’t play Dennis Dixon is the only viable option at quarterback. Charlie Batch won’t last 10 snaps behind the current state of protection.
+ At the beginning of the year I thought Pittsburgh’s age and experience would be an advantage because of the lockout — boy was I wrong.
+ That being said, it is only Week 5.

Rick Kazmer
rickk@dailyamerican.com

I guess I could throw some sort of metaphor together here about Pitt’s offense and fuel.
It lived up to its high-octane billing Thursday night. No, I didn’t get to watch the game — work.
Things from the stat sheet that caught my eye:
+ Ray Graham rushes for 226 yards.
+ Tino Sunseri doesn’t throw an interception.
+ Sunseri runs for 35 yards and a touchdown.
The Maine game that I went to a few weeks ago is still too fresh in my memory for me to feel good about Sunseri. But things must have went better Thursday.
Beating the No. 16 team in the nation 44-17 might be the biggest statement game the Panthers have had in a few years. The only other one I recall is when Pitt took down West Virginia a few years back — the Mountaineers were ranked No. 1 or 2. If you have a more recent signature game, post it on this report. Dave Wannstedt wasn’t known for signature wins. Hopefully Todd Graham will be.

Rick Kazmer
rickk@dailyamerican.com

I know it is easy to pick on Bruce Arians when things go bad.
But when an offensive line can’t hold blocks for more than a second, adjustments need to be made. Arians didn’t make a noticeable change that improved Pittsburgh’s offense Sunday night.
The Indianapolis defense just isn’t that good — and Pittsburgh’s offense couldn’t figure out how to block their defensive ends.
OK, so Pittsburgh’s offensive line is beat up, and, quite frankly, very average. But good coordinators adjust. Dwight Freeney pressured Ben Roethlisberger almost every play. But Arians didn’t run more roll-outs or provide better backfield blocking with running backs and tight ends. He simply doesn’t adjust to hostile defenses very well.
Arians might be able to write a decent playbook, but he is a poor game-day schemer.
Next week Houston is likely going to score more than 20 points. If Curtis Painter could find success against the Steelers defense, Matt Schaub could have a field day.
And no Steelers tackle will be able to block Mario Williams.

Rick Kazmer
rickk@dailyamerican.com

College football is a business.
And like any other financial venture — loyalty exists as long as profits are good.
The Big East’s football future wasn’t bright with Pittsburgh and Syracuse, and it is barely a spark since the teams have been accepted into the Atlantic Coast Conference. Some call their departure unethical and disloyal.
But rumors of leaving have been swirling through fan bases of several key Big East teams. This decision was based on self-preservation. And it will likely prove to be a wise one.
Basketball alone is not going to be enough to sustain the Big East as a major college conference.
Even with the addition of Texas Christian University — and even if rumors of Air Force and Navy joining are true — Big East football is growing weaker.
Rumors include Rutgers applying to the ACC, West Virginia looking to leave and TCU considering going back to the Mountain West Conference.
Things started going bad in 2004 when Miami University left. The only colleges with decent football programs added were Cincinnati, Louisville and the University of South Florida. And those programs are not perennial winners.
Notre Dame has been benefiting from the conference’s superb basketball reputation since 1995 as a member only in that sport. If the Big East would have convinced the Irish to join as a football member teams might now be scrambling to enter the conference.
Pitt’s decision is sound. They strengthened their position in the football community and lost perhaps only a little ground in basketball. Now they will face Duke and North Carolina, no slouches on the court.